Van Halen Cover the Who and Black Sabbath

May 18th, 2016

PHOTO: Fin Costello | Getty Images

By Christopher Scapelliti

Van Halen were touring behind their self-titled debut album when they played their first show in Paris, this week in 1978. The group performed at the Theatre Mogador, where they played cuts from their album, along with a cover of Black Sabbath’s “Symptom of the Universe” and Eddie Cochran’s “Summertime Blues,” which they knew from the Who’s Live at Leeds album.

The concert also saw Van Halen perform “Voodoo Queen,” a song that would later be transformed into “Mean Street” for 1981’s Fair Warning album.